In celebration of Mario’s 35th anniversary, Nintendo released a Super Mario Bros. Direct stuffed with all Mario everything. Here’s a look at all the goodies the company announced.
A New Novelty Handheld
Coming November 13, 2020 is a new Game & Watch-style handheld loaded with the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and a Mario themed edition of the classic Game & Watch title Ball.
That Long-Rumored 3D Mario Collection
Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy will all be coming to the Switch with higher resolutions and optimized for the Nintendo Switch. The compilation is called Super Mario 3D All-Stars and will be sold from September 18 until March 31, 2021. Yes, there’s an end date. Yes, that’s weird.
A New Mario Kart That Uses Real Toy Cars
To ensure that we never leave our homes again, Nintendo is making a new Mario Kart game featuring actual toys you can race around your house. Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is an AR game that lets you race real toys in your living room. “The physical Kart responds to boosts in-game and in the real world, stops when hit with an item and can be affected in different ways depending on the race,” Nintendo stated in a press release. “Players place gates to create a custom course layout in their home, where the only limit is their imagination.”
Bowser’s A What Now?
The Wii U game Super Mario 3D World is getting a Switch port with online and local co-op multiplayer, new levels as part of something called Bowser’s Fury, and new Cat Mario and Cat Peach amiibos. Coming February 12, 2021.
Mario Battle Royale
Exclusive to Nintendo Switch Online members and available only for a limited time, Super Mario Bros. 35 will allow you and 34 other people to battle it out in a race to the finish. According to Nintendo: “Enemies defeated will be sent to other players’ courses, but that also works the other way around! Players can activate special items to try and outpace their opponents.” Because everything, including Mario, is a battle royale game now.
Super Mario All-Stars Returns
Later today, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 will all be available on the Switch in a re-release of the classic Super Mario All-Stars.
Other Stuff..
In addition to a slew of new games, Nintendo is also celebrating the 35th anniversary of Super Mario with a bunch of in-game events and Mario themed-crossovers. To start there’s an official pin set players can earn by doing things like taking Mario quizzes, racing in Mario Kart Tour, and, of course, buying games (the full list of “missions’ is here). Between September 8 and 22, Mario Kart Tour will feature new racers like Mario and Donkey Kong Jr. as they appeared in the original Super Mario Kart on the SNES.
Then in November Super Mario Maker 2 will get a set of special 35th anniversary-themed Ninji speedrun courses. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Splatoon 2 will host events—a Super Mario fighters tournament and Super Mario-themed Splatfest respectively—in the coming months. Finally in March of next year Animal Crossing: New Horizons will get a new set of Super Mario furniture. The months-long celebration ultimately wraps up on March 31, 2021.
During this victory lap Mario will also be getting his face plastered all over the place. Nintendo announced Puma RS-Dreamer Super Mario 64 basketball shoes that will launch September 4, as well as a collaboration with Black Milk Clothing coming later this fall. There are also a bunch of toys: Super Mario Jenga, Super Mario Monopoly, and a new It’s-a-Me, Mario action figure. Yes. In 2020. An action figure. I love it.
Rumors began swirling early today that Nintendo might drop some news about a 35th anniversary collection. Instead, the company delivered an entire 16-minute Mario Direct out of the blue. Classic Nintendo.